Computers and cars specialists Intel and Ford have announced a scheme they're calling Mobii -- an attempt to shoehorn references to the "internet of things" into the next generation of auto manuals by hooking driver-monitoring cameras into smartphone apps.

There are several ideas behind Mobii. Most important is security, with the driver-facing camera able to ping a photo of an unrecognised driver to the smartphone of the registered owner, so he or she can notify the cops if it's someone unknown trying to nick it or unlock access to the radio if it's a child.

And more general driver recognition is also highlighted, with your car seeing it's you and automatically ejecting whatever rubbish CD your wife was listening to, adjusting the seat and turning down the heater to suit. A bit like Kinect, and we know how popular that turned out to be.

Intel also hints at some sort of limited gesture control tools, whereby pointing at the sunroof might tell the car you want it open, so, if you paid the extra for the motorised options and voice input features, it'll listen for your "open sesame" command and wind it back for you. [Intel via The Register]